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Friday, February 1, 2013

Review: Knitting Under the Influence by Claire LaZebnik

Knitting Under the Influence was just what I needed to read around the holidays. I don't usually read chick lit-type books, but once in a while I just want to get lost in a girly story, especially one that involves 2 of my favorite things-knitting and alcohol. (just an FYI, I don't recommend you drink while knitting. You'll end up with one needle facing the wrong direction and will have no idea how it got that way)

Best friends Kathleen, Sari, and Lucy meet every weekend to knit and talk about life. They are all in their late 20s, all of them not really feeling like the adults they're supposed to be. And they're all in search of love (and Kathleen, some independant from her movie star sisters who have employed her for years as their assistant).

Their stories were so much fun to read. Each of the girls had their own distinct personalities. Kathleen was my favorite character. She was quirky and confidant and reminded me of one of my best friends. Sari was also an interesting character. She grew up with an autistic brother in a time when no one really knew what autism was. Now, she works at an autism clinic. I really liked reading about how she worked with the children and their parents. Mainly because it all sounded so legit. LaZebnik has an autistic child and I thought she worked in the whole autism thing really well. I feel like a lot of people are still very hush hush about autism, and that was presented in this book as well. Sari really struggled growing up with her brother, and she had to deal with her mother not wanting to get help for him.

I would definitely read more by this author because it was such a fun book. I don't read books like this often, but when I do I tend to devour them, which is what I did with this one. I stayed up well past bedtime to finish it :) All in all, it was a really fun book with characters you will want to be friends with and some more serious issues that are touched on just enough to make you think a bit but not enough to get you depressed about things.